Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman pulled off one of the biggest surprises of California's 2026 election cycle, overtaking reality television star Spencer Pratt and advancing to the November runoff against incumbent Mayor Karen Bass despite trailing on election night and facing attacks from conservatives, including President Donald Trump.
Raman's surge came as late-counted mail ballots steadily erased Pratt's early lead. By Monday, she had moved ahead by more than 3,000 votes, securing second place in the city's nonpartisan primary and effectively ending Pratt's unlikely mayoral bid. The result prompted Trump and other conservatives to question California's ballot-counting process, despite election officials pointing to the state's longstanding system that allows mail ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted after the election.
